Chandigarh, Nov 15 (IANS): Countering Punjab’s claim on Chandigarh, Haryana Transport Minister Anil Vij on Friday said that it can only belong to Punjab “if the Hindi-speaking regions are transferred to Haryana and the state receives its share of the Satluj Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water.

“They (Punjab) are under a misconception; they are unaware of the history of Punjab and Haryana. Chandigarh can only belong to Punjab if the Hindi-speaking regions are transferred to Haryana and Haryana receives its share of SYL water. Otherwise, Chandigarh belongs to Punjab as well as Haryana,” he told the media.

Chandigarh is the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana.

Commenting on former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s statement that this time it was the system and not democracy that won in the just concluded Assembly elections, Vij said, “There are many ways to complain. He’s unable to accept defeat. The people have rejected him and now they are unable to bear it,” he said

“The people have cut their (Hooda’s) kite string, and now they cannot manage it and that is why he is making such statements,” he added.

Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has never read the Constitution, Transport Minister Vij said, “PM Modi has complete knowledge of the Constitution, but you (Rahul Gandhi) do not. Your grandmother Indira Gandhi tore the Constitution during the Emergency. That is why you lack knowledge of it.”

“Rahul Gandhi is working to spread hatred in the country. The Gandhi family has not read the Constitution. Rahul Gandhi should know what his grandmother did to the Constitution. During the 1975 Emergency, all powers under the Constitution were eliminated, 1.5 lakh people were jailed, fundamental rights were suspended, and forced sterilisations were carried out. So, the Gandhi family has not read the Constitution. We have read it and know it well,” he added.